A known type of input/output (I/O) electrical connector includes a dielectric housing having a front mating face and a rear face with a terminal-receiving cavity therebetween. A plurality of terminals are mounted in the cavity, with portions of the terminals, such as female portions, extending into passages of the dielectric housing for mating with male terminals of a complementary mating connector. Most often, the terminals have enlarged body sections which are used to fix the terminals within the connector housing.
In other connectors of this type, a plurality of terminal modules are insertable into the housing cavity, with each module including a dielectric insert or strip surrounding a plurality of the terminals. The dielectric insert may be overmolded about the body sections of the plurality of terminals. For instance, thin elongated terminal modules may be positioned in a side-by-side or "stacked" array within the housing cavity.
In connectors of this type, the female contact portions of the terminals project into passages in a mating portion of the dielectric housing whereby the female contact portions are protected within the passages. The male terminals of the complementary mating connector are inserted into the passages for interconnection with the female contact portions. The dielectric housing most often is an elongated structure having longitudinal rows of passages extending lengthwise of the housing for receiving longitudinal rows of terminals or the thin elongated terminal modules. These rows of passages define transverse columns of passages spaced lengthwise of the housing. Because the female contact portions of the terminals normally comprised enlarged portions of the terminals, the passages must be enlarged to accommodate the female contact portions, and the size of the passages often dictate the dimensions of the overall connector. Since size is a critical factor in many circuitry layouts, accommodating the enlarged female contact portions of the terminals often cause problems in dimensional designing. Simply placing the passages in the housing closer together or at a smaller "pitch" often is not a solution, because the walls of the housing between the passages become too thin, resulting in insufficient supporting structure as well as making it difficult to mold the housing.
The present invention is directed to solving the myriad of problems discussed above by providing an improved terminal-receiving passage structure and, particularly, a passage arrangement for accommodating the female contact portions of specific terminals. Still further, the invention is directed to an improved passage structure for accommodating terminals with female contact portions defined by dual spaced-apart cantilevered spring arms which are offset on opposite sides of blade portions of the terminals.